


Fight your way back

by DarksStars



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Space, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, my kink is characters getting proper rest, side bokuaka, side iwaoi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-25
Updated: 2017-01-08
Packaged: 2018-08-24 14:29:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8375692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarksStars/pseuds/DarksStars
Summary: Transferring to a new school is never easy, especially not when it’s actually in space, away from everything he’s ever known. New place, new friends and new challenges, Daichi has a lot to deal with, especially when he hopes to repair the injustice that’s been done to him. 
Meanwhile, Kuroo has his own problem to deal with; his group of friends are starting to date each other and right as he feels he’s being left alone comes a super cute new roommate who won’t let himself be courted that easily. 
Welcome to Space School for Space Kids, where everyone’s having a grand time.





	1. New school, New Roommate

**Author's Note:**

> The idea for this fic came to me after an IwaOi RP I did that would be set years after this and made me think about Iwaizumi and Oikawa going to space school together, which of course made my mind go: okay, but /kurodai/ in space school. So here it is!

  
Daichi quietly watches the clerk in front of him process his documents and he sees the two glaringly red lines through the holo-screen, a permanent mark on his personal file:  ‘Unfit for command. Unfit for piloting’. As if he'd need the reminder again.

He rubs his eyes with the back of his hand again. The permanent night sky Daichi sees through the window is no indication of what time of the day it is and he looks at his phone to see that his currently useless device is still syncing to this new location.

“ Sorry for the delay, your file is now complete. I'm pleased to welcome you to Pluto Station University,” the clerk finally says after what might have been an eternity. She hands him an envelope with the school logo and places a separate sheet on top of it. “ Here's your orientation package and a map of the academy. I’ve circled your room location, you are more than welcome to head there now if you please.”

Daichi takes the whole package with a thank and a polite nod and doesn't waste any more time to make his way to his new living quarters.

Built during the height of Japan’s time at the forefront of space exploration, the Pluto Station -named after its proximity with the dwarf planet- had once been used as the last contact point for ships heading into the vast unknown beyond the solar system. As frontiers were broadened and the rise of the Alliance led to bigger relay points being built, it became used less and its state of the art installations were turned into an elite school many dreamt of getting in.

Daichi finds his room easily, despite how complex the map looks and opens the door to a small and bare room. The wall on the right is entirely covered with a built-in unit of two bunk beds with storage spaces on each end, while the left side of the room is occupied by a long desk with two chairs. It’s a cramped space -about half of what he had back on earth-, but it’s to be expected from a place where every square inches counts. His luggage surprisingly is already there, but he'll deal with that later. Half of the desk is already covered in papers and other items indicating his roommate has already occupied the space, but he doesn’t put too many thoughts into it.

After tossing the stack of papers his was still holding on his side of the desk, Daichi sits on the bottom bunk and lets himself flop back on the bed with a sigh. He doesn’t know what time of the day it is, and he honestly doesn’t care at all by this point.  He’s tired to the bone and it’s so easy to just close his eyes and let go. 

  
\---

“Sa--u--ra”

“Hn?”

“Sa-wa-mu-ra~”  
  
Daichi is startled awake by an unfamiliar voice and opens his eyes to find an unfamiliar face inches away from his own. He blinks a few times and stares back at the one eye that isn’t covered by the wild mass of black hair that surrounds the stranger’s face.

“Whaa-?” Daichi asks, his voice still hoarse from sleep. Whichever amount of hours he slept isn’t enough to deal with who, Daichi assumes, is his obnoxious looking roommate. 

The other guy leans back and gives Daichi some space “You’re,um, kinda sleeping on my bed and I tried waking you earlier, but you didn’t move and you know what this can be your bed now, I prefer the top bunk anyway.”  
  
Daichi doesn’t have the time to process what had just been said that he watches the other guy stands up and swaps the stickers with their name written on from the corner of the beds. He doesn’t really understand why; it’s not as if this was actually enforced, isn’t it?  
  
“Kuroo Tetsurou, by the way. ” Daichi’s roommate introduces himself, offering his hand to Daichi to pull him up into a sitting position. He sees Kuroo better from his angle, and he can’t help but notice how tall Kuroo is. It annoys him a bit, though he’s not entirely sure why.  

“Sawamura Daichi” Daichi replies, even though Kuroo seems to already know his name. Probably from the stickers on their bed. He runs his hands down his face and tries to blink away the lingering sleepiness without success.  
  
“You okay?” Kuroo asks, his facial expression turning into a concerned look.

“Yeah, just shuttle lagged I guess” Daichi answers with a shrug and Kuroo gives a little understanding nod in return. He reached to grab his phone and quickly glances at it, only to groan in frustration at how it’s still displaying the syncing screen. How long was that supposed to take anyway? “What time is it?” 

Kuroo’s smile is back on his face and he leans closer to Daichi,which makes Daichi tense at the sudden closeness. Before he has the time to ask what’s going on, Kuroo snatches Daichi’s phone right from his hand.

“An iPhone 448 S?” Kuroo snickers while he taps around the screen. “ I don’t even remember the last time I saw one.” 

“It still works,” Daichi answers dryly, mouth drawn into a hard line. 

“Annnd it is currently 10pm” Kuroo reads off the screen on Daichi’s phone with a smug look on his face that makes Daichi huff in annoyance while he grabs it back from Kuroo’s hands. Still, his phone is back to working properly and that’s one less thing on Daichi’s mind for now. “You missed dinner, but it was awful anyway. Seriously, I couldn’t even recognize half of the stuff that was on that plate.” Kuroo adds, his nose wrinkling in disgust.

Daichi has no intention of listening to Kuroo’s rant about proper nutrition and how the school ought to be feeding them better with the amount of money they spend to be there; 10pm is a perfectly reasonable time to go back to sleep and he has every intention of doing so.

“Look,” Daichi interjects with a sigh that must have come up louder than expected because it makes Kuroo stops in his rant. “I just really want to go back to sleep.”

Kuroo simply stares at him for a moment that seems a bit too long, as if he’s processing this simple request and Daichi almost gets impatient until a look of realization then of guilt goes on Kuroo’s face. He runs a hand through his already impossibly messy hair and looks at Daichi with an apologetic look.  
  
“Oh yeah, sorry I guess,” Kuroo says with an apologetic smile, his hand now rubbing the back of his neck. “Want me to show you around where the bathrooms and showers are?”  
  
Daichi shakes his head, his eyes already closing on his own as he leans against the side of the bed. The plastic-like material is hard, cold and uncomfortable, but he’s past the point of caring.

“No, tomorrow.” 

  
\---

  
Daichi blinks in confusion, his mind slowly escaping the grasp of sleep. He doesn’t remember his head being on a pillow, nor does he remember making it to under his blankets, yet there he is, comfortably tucked in bed.  
  
More importantly, there’s something partially obscuring his vision and Daichi stares at it for a moment before realizing what it is. It’s a post-it note. _Who the hell even brings post-it notes in space?_ He removes it from where it has been stuck to his forehead and turns it around to read, in a barely legible scribble:

  
“ Breakfast ends at 10am ;P  
= > => <=

=> <= =>

                  -Kuroo  ”

Daichi stares at the note for a moment, trying to decipher what this message means while also processing the fact that his roommate apparently _is the kind of person who brings post-it notes in space._

Breakfast does sound amazing, however, and Daichi doesn’t even remember the last time he had an actual meal that wasn’t whatever reconstructed mess they had served on the transportation shuttle. Daichi looks at his phone screen and his eyes widen as he sees the time on the screen: “9:37am”.

_Shit._  
  
Daichi curses under his breath as he flings himself out of bed and quickly goes through his luggage - he’s gonna have to put it away later- to find clean clothes to change into. As he rushes out the door, Daichi comes to the conclusion that the arrows on the post-it notes are meant to be directions, which he assumes, will lead him to the cafeteria. It’s an odd, but considerate thing for his roommate to do and he makes a mental note to thank him later for it. As much as he’s dissatisfied with his current overall situation, he reminds himself that today is a new start and he should try to make the most out of it.

Following the directions, Daichi first heads right and stays alert for where the next turn is going to be.  
  
10:07am  
  
Daichi glances at his phone and sigh in defeat. Looks like he won’t be having breakfast today. He hopes the lunch menu is decent, but from what he remembers Kuroo saying about last night’s dinner, he doesn’t set his expectations too high.  
  
The cafeteria hall is nearly a quarter of the size of the one at Daichi’s previous school, but not doubt it will be just as full once all the students will have arrived. For now, however, all he can see are sparse groups of students scattered around the room; some finishing their late breakfast while other appears to be simply chatting.  
  
In the centre of the room is a particularly loud group of students and Daichi quickly spots amongst them the unmistakable unruly mess that is Kuroo Tetsurou’s hair. Daichi crosses the room and stops right in front of his new roommates, ignoring how everyone else at that table turns to look at him.  
  
“You missed a turn” he points out harshly and sticks the post-it note on the exposed half of Kuroo’s forehead.

Kuroo looks confused for a second and picks the note from his forehead to look at it. 

“Ah, you’re right,” Kuroo replies, half-lidded eyes and sheepish smile that tells Daichi he’s not sorry at all. “But you still made it, right?”  
  
“And I missed breakfast,” Daichi says dryly, more irritated about that than the fact that Kuroo’s directions were wrong and he lost time figuring out the way all by himself.

Kuroo smiles only widen as he slides a tray full with this morning’s breakfast to the empty spot next to him. Daichi’s eyes widen in surprise for a second, but he keeps a skeptical gaze on Kuroo while he sits down at the table. 

After a brief moment of internal deliberations, Daichi decides that he’s way too hungry to question what Kuroo’s intentions are and digs into it right away. Surprisingly, the food isn’t all cold like he first expected and he guesses that Kuroo went to get it at the last minute right before breakfast time was over. On any other day, Daichi would have questioned the clearly overburnt and dry edges on the omelet and the long gone cold bread, but after three days of eating what might just as well been mashed cardboard, he’ll take anything that’s a notch above.  
  
“I went at the last minute so they kinda threw everything they had left on that plate,” Kuroo says with a shrug.  
  
Daichi opens his mouth to thank Kuroo, but is instantly interrupted by a loud voice coming from next to him.  
  
“Well, Tetsu-chan, aren’t you going to introduce us?”  
  
Daichi had been so focused on his breakfast that he hadn’t noticed the group of people Kuroo was currently sitting with, and he suddenly feel very out of place when he glances up to four pairs of eyes turning to look at him.  
  
“Oh yeah, I suppose I should,” Kuroo says nonchalantly. “Well everyone, this Sawamura Daichi, my new roommate. Sawamura, this is Bokuto, Oikawa, and Iwaizumi, all third years like us.”  
  
Daichi greets them all, but quickly goes still as he notices the way the others are sharing hesitant glances between each other. It’s gone as quick as it happened and he is left with an odd lingering feeling, as if he isn’t sure this just happened.

Whatever topic they discussed before Daichi joined them is dropped, and Oikawa turns to him. He leans closer, elbows on the table and chin resting in his hand, with an interested look on his face that makes Daichi feels like he’s been put under some sort of spotlight.

“So, Sawamura-kun. What’s your major?”  

_Ah, of course._ “Engineering” Daichi answers immediately; he’s been through that classic conversation with new acquaintance at school throughout the years.

“Oh! Same as Iwa-Chan then!”  Oikawa’s face lights up as he lightly elbows said  _Iwa-chan_ that’s sitting next to him, which earns him a glare from Iwaizumi. Daichi takes note of that; while he knows nothing about Iwaizumi yet, it’s always nice to have at least a familiar face in your classes and since he’s new here, he’s gonna need it.

“Hey, hey! Same as me!” Bokuto suddenly butts in loudly, leaning closer so he’s included back into the conversation. 

“Yeah, and I really don’t know how you managed to make it to third year considering how bad you are at math, Bo” Kuroo teases and Bokuto sticks his tongue out at him.  
  
“Akaashi helps him” Iwaizumi states matter-of-factly with a shrug.  
  
“Speaking of Akaashi…” Oikawa trails off dramatically, looking expectedly at Bokuto. His tone is innocent enough, but the look on his face isn’t. “I haven’t seen him yet, where is he? ”

Bokuto deflates immediately with a dramatic whimper, Oikawa’s jab successfully hitting its mark. He slumps forward, arms stretched out in front of him, until his cheek is pressed on the table and it earns him a round of laughter from everyone else at the table and a puzzled look from Daichi who’s not quite sure what just happened.

“Don’t remind meeee-” whines Bokuto,turning his face further away until his voice is muffled by the table. “He had some family emergency to attend and he missed the express shuttle so he has to take the one that arrives in a week.”  
  
Kuroo snickers and leans closer to poke Bokuto’s head through his spiky hair. “I’m surprised you are even still alive then”

“Hey,I’m not _that_ dependent on him.” Bokuto protests, lifting his head high enough to glare back at Kuroo.  
  
Kuroo leans back and lifts a skeptical eyebrow.“Are you sure?”  
  
“You’re just jealous you don’t have anyone,” Bokuto huffs and drops back his head on the table.  
  
Kuroo looks at his best friend with a shocked and hurt expression. “Bro, bro, I am so hurt right now,” he says, dramatically placing his hand on his chest and looking away. “ All this time,I thought we had something?”  
  
The whole table erupts in laughter once again, this time with Daichi laughing too although he’s still not too sure he’s understanding what’s going on.

The conversation resumes after that, about some topic Daichi doesn’t know much about. As entertaining as they are, Daichi feels odd amongst these four friends that clearly have known each other for a long time. It makes him miss his friends back home, 7.5 billion kilometers away on earth. School hasn’t started yet and everyone is probably still enjoying their last days of spring vacation. He wonders if Suga is back from spending time in the countryside at his grandmother’s house and wishes he could have gone for a few days too; his best friend’s grandmother always made him feel like he was part of the family and he enjoyed playing with the dogs and help with the garden. 

Kuroo leans closer with an inquiring look on his face. “What are you spacing out for?” He asks with a slight teasing edge to his voice.  
  
Daichi looks up at Kuroo and frowns for a second, suddenly pulled away from his thoughts, before he shakes his head and turns back to look down at his nearly empty plate. “Nothing really. Guess I’m still not fully awake yet,” he simply dismisses.

Kuroo keeps his gaze on him for a second, eyes narrowing in suspicions before he just shrugs and returns to the conversation with the others where it was left off. Or so he seems to do, because a second later his faces lights up as if he’s suddenly remembering something and he glances back at Daichi for a split second.  
  
“I just remembered Sawamura and I have stuff to do, so we’ll see you guys later” Kuroo announces to the other occupants of the table.

“Wha-” Daichi whips his head around to look at Kuroo with a bewildered look. He doesn’t remember making any plans, let alone with his roommate, but Kuroo’s already standing up and doesn’t give him the chance to protest further.

\---

As it turns out, Kuroo drags Daichi on a tour of the school. Apparently, he promised him one the night before, although Daichi has no memory of it. It’s a nice break from Kuroo’s loud group of friends -especially Bokuto who must have been born with a volume knob stuck at 11 - and it’s a chance to actually make sense of the school’s configuration. What had seemed like a confusing maze to Daichi the day before turned out to be a lot simpler once he walked around through it. The whole place is made of giant circles, each floor with hallways that lead all the way around and rooms in the centre. On the floor they currently are, one side of the hallway is lined with windows that lead directly outside and offers anyone passing by a stunning view of the thousands of stars sparkling in the black void surrounding them.

“And if we take that door there it goes to the floor where the simulator is, but I think it’s closed right now,” Kuroo says as he continues with his explanation.  

Daichi simply nods, half listening to what Kuroo is saying. He’s distracted by the view and something else that had been on his mind since morning. Something that’s been bothering him, but that Daichi can’t find a way to express yet, so he keeps quiet and lets Kuroo lead him to another part of the school they haven’t explored yet. 

It takes them about another hour to reach the last floor, which is more or less an observation deck. Half of it is an open space with the ceiling and wall build of window panels, under which are couches and tables randomly placed across the floor. While the place is empty for now, Kuroo explains that it's nearly impossible to get a spot here during the day while classes are in session, but that it’s an awesome place to study at night, when it gets emptier. Daichi doesn’t have any trouble believing him. While the view wasn’t as incredible, communal student spaces at his previous school could get just as crowded.

“And this concludes our tour of the school facilities,” Kuroo says, mimicking a tour guide practiced speech, as he turns to face Daichi. 

Daichi’s eyes narrow suspiciously and he keeps his gaze firm on Kuroo’s face while he takes a step closer. “Why are you doing this?” Daichi asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

He catches the surprised look that appears on Kuroo’s face for a split second, right before he quickly recovers and puts his signature lazy smirk back on, which only further confirms that there’s something really fishy with his new roommate. 

“Doing what?” Kuroo asks nonchalantly. Whether he’s feigning innocence or genuinely doesn’t know, Daichi can’t tell. 

“Tucking me in bed, giving me directions to the cafeteria, getting me breakfast, introducing me to your friends, this tour of the school-” Daichi lists off accusingly. This was what had been bothering him for the last few hours. It’s not that he doesn’t appreciate what Kuroo has done for him so far, it’s that the ease in which he has done all of this to someone he only met the day before doesn’t sit quite right with Daichi.

Kuroo eyebrows rise and he brushes off the accusation with a laugh. “What? Can’t I just be nice for being nice?” He deflects, but Daichi’s expression remains unchanged and Kuroo’s facade quickly crumble. He runs a hand through the back of his hair while looking away, embarrassed to have been called out like that.  

“Alright… To be nice?” Kuroo offers with a shrug, returning his unsure gaze to Daichi. “Um, nobody ever transfers in here. Transfer out, yes, but not transfer in, so I dunno. Figured it would be hard for you to arrive here knowing nobody. ”  
  
Kuroo’s genuine answer surprises Daichi and it’s believable enough for him to accept it. Tension leaves his body and it’s Daichi’s turn to be embarrassed; he feels guilty for having so openly questioned Kuroo’s good intentions. Kuroo’s eyes aren’t quite meeting Daichi’s anymore and Daichi knows that it’s his turn to apologize.  
  
“Sorry,” Daichi offers honestly. “I shouldn’t have questioned you like that.”  
  
It takes a short moment, but Kuroo’s eyes finally drift back to Daichi’s, his face already back to his usual laidback expression. “It’s okay” Kuroo shrugs, the barest hint of an amused smile tugging at the corner of his lip. “I’ll try to be less suspicious next time I want to be nice.”  
 

Daichi just sighs in defeat and it’s enough to make Kuroo laugh this time.

 

\---

Glaring at the blank space of the top bunk above him, Daichi wonders what kind of cruel tricks fate has been playing on him lately. All he wishes for is a good, decent night of sleep, but apparently sleeping more than 12 hours the night before must have messed up with his inner clock, because he simply can not fall asleep at the moment. It’s not like he has to be up early tomorrow morning, classes are only starting in a week, but Daichi has no intention of letting go of his usual schedule, despite how hard it’s been to in the past few days.  
  
After what must have been the fifth time he’s counted down from 100 to 0 by slices of 3, Daichi sits up with a frustrated groan. He exhales sharply and turns around to fluff up his pillow once more before lying down back on it as if it would change anything. Turning on his side, he screws his eyes shut when he hears shuffling coming from the bed above him.

“ _Psst_ , Sawamura” comes Kuroo’s voice, muffled by the bed separating them. 

“ What do you want Kuroo? Daichi replies dryly, already irritated enough that he can’t sleep. He doesn’t need someone keeping him awake on top of it.  
  
“Having trouble sleeping?”  
  
“Yeah,” Daichi sighs in defeat. “I think I slept too much last night”  
  
Kuroo snorts.” I dunno, you were passed out so hard. I think you needed it.”  
  
“How come you can’t sleep”  
  
“Ah, um, I’m missing a pillow?”  
  
“You’re… missing a pillow?” Daichi asks incredulously.    
  
“Yeah, I usually sleep with two pillows. Feels weird without. I kinda used your pillow before you arrived?”  
  
Daichi decides to ignore the bit about Kuroo using his pillow, although he does frown slightly at it. “Sleeping with two pillows is bad for your neck anyway, it’s probably for the best.”  
  
“Oh, I know. I don’t sleep on the two of them. I sleep between them,” Kuroo replies, as if it made perfect sense.  
  
Daichi opens his mouth then closes it. Really, he doesn’t know what to add to that. He’s known Kuroo for a grand total of a day and an evening, and he’s already figured out that his roommate has a knack for not doing things normally.  
  
The silence stretches out for a moment until Kuroo’s voice comes again from above.“It’s comfortable you should try it sometimes. Side effect includes ridiculously good looking bed hair so I’m warning you. ”  
  
This time it’s Daichi’s turn to laugh; he presses his face in his pillow, muffling the sound but not completely.

The silence stretches out again after this, soon after Daichi stops laughing and he begins to wonder if Kuroo didn’t finally fall asleep. 

“Hey, Sawamura”  
  
“What is it this time, Kuroo,” Daichi replies exasperatedly.  
  
“Do you have any siblings?”  
  
Daichi frowns, more confused by the sudden question than annoyed by it. “No, I don’t. Do you?”  
  
“Nope.”  
  
The room goes silent again, and Daichi lets his eyes close once more when…  
  
“Hey Sawamura, what’s your favourite food?”  
  
Daichi keeps his eyes closed this time, and instead moves around a bit until he’s more comfortably nestled in his blanket.  
  
“Shoyu ramen. Yours?”  
  
“Grilled mackerel.”  
  
Kuroo pauses once more, probably trying to come up with another question.  
  
“Your favourite movie genre?”  
  
“Action. You?”  
  
“Scientifically Accurate Sci-fi”  
  
Daichi rolls his eyes at that one. “ Are there even movies like that? I thought the point of sci-fi was that it made up new science stuff”  
  
“I’ll have you know that you can speculate science without messing up every already established facts,” Kuroo huffs, and Daichi smiles at the genuine indignation in Kuroo’s voice.

Daichi loses track of how many questions Kuroo asks after that. He keeps answering; Kuroo’s voice becomes a constant noise in the background as his body progressively get heavier and he’s not even sure if Kuroo’s voice is real anymore. 

Finally, there’s a silence long enough that leaves Daichi right on the edge of sleep when Kuroo interrupts once again.  
  
“Hey, Sawamura?”  
  
“Hm?”  
  
“Good night”  
  
“Goo’ nigh’ ” Daichi mumbles in reply, right before he falls asleep for real this time.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of, a HUGE HUGE HUGE thank you to Kythen (go read their KuroDai stuff if you haven't, yo) for having helped me throughout this. They're my virtual deadline holder and helped me a lot when I struggled with difficult parts.
> 
> This is technically the first full length fic I've written since 2010, so it was a lot of work, but I hope you folks enjoyed it so far! Comments and kudos are super duper appreciated! 
> 
> Look forward to Chapter 2 being out sometime before the end of December~


	2. Homesick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! Holidays had me a lot busier than I expected OTL. 
> 
> Also, half of this was edited while on dayquil so I apologize for any mistakes that might have slipped through.
> 
> With that said, please enjoy!

The crew assignments are posted a week after the beginning of classes. For first years, it’s an exciting and nervous moment, while for upper grades it's mostly a confirmation of where their place still is amongst old friends. Daichi might be a third year by now, but looking through the announcement board makes him feel like he’s a first year all over again. He trails his fingers down each list, waiting for his name to appear.  
  
It finally does show up, near the bottom, in a list that’s written ‘Nekoma Crew’ at the top. Daichi follows the line of his name to find his position: ‘ship mechanic’. He tries not to let it get to him, but there’s something disheartening about seeing his name so low on the list again. Like the last two years didn’t count for anything and he’s back to square one again. He reads the line again, lets it set in and goes through the rest of the list with a little heartache when he sees the filled line next to ‘pilot’ that doesn't contain his name.

Then the first line makes him wonder what kind of game fate is playing with him: 

‘Team leader / Communication specialist: Kuroo Tetsurou’

Of course. _Of fucking course._ Daichi tense as an arm is slung around his shoulders and he doesn’t recognize for a second the looming form of said Kuroo Tetsurou right next to him. 

”Hey, Sawamura” Kuroo says in his usual smooth voice, leaning closer towards Daichi if that was even possible. “Welcome to the Nekoma crew.”

After the information sinks in, Daichi side steps so he can shrug Kuroo off of him and regain some sense of personal space again. “What happened to your previous mechanic?” he asks, turning slightly so he can look at Kuroo. From what he’s heard, crews generally kept the same composition as they moved on to the next year; not only due to the small number of students, but also to build teamwork and a sense of trust amongst the crew members.

Kuroo cocks his head with a pensive air. “ I actually don’t know. I haven’t seen him around, so I guess something must have happened.” Kuroo shrugs. “Anyway! I’m really looking forward having you on my team, Sawamura.”

\---

Third years crew times are on Thursday and Friday this year. Thursdays are dedicated to individual specializations, with classes and workshops geared towards that, and Fridays are crew sessions under supervision in the simulator or on an actual ship. 

As disappointing as it is, Daichi isn’t too worried about his current assigned position. He’s done one year of it before, where he learnt most of the basics he should know to fulfil this post, until he was chosen for the pilot class the sequential year. He’s going to have some gaps to fill up, especially since there are some difference in what is taught in first year here, but he’s confident in his abilities to handle that class just as well as he did before. After all, it’s mostly practice and applying skills in advanced real life scenarios.  
  
Much to his relief, Daichi does see a familiar face as he walks in for his first class Thursday morning. Iwaizumi sits on a stool in the corner of the workshop, eyes currently occupied by whatever is going on on his phone, but he looks up when Daichi takes the spot next to him at the work table.

“I think this is the first time I see you without Oikawa nearby” Daichi points out, smile tugging on the corner of his lips. While they are in the same major, they haven't shared any classes so far due to being in different groups, and the few times they’ve run into each other were at the cafeteria or in the communal room in the dorms. 

Iwaizumi snorts. “I know. Believe me, it feels amazing. He's never too far though,” he adds, briefly waving his phone.

After a quiet moment where Iwaizumi finishes whatever he was doing on his phone, probably talking to Oikawa, he looks up at Daichi again.

“So, how do you find it here so far? “ he asks.

Daichi crosses his arms and leans forward on the table, thinking about you what best defined his school experience so far. Outside of his classes, it's mostly been defined by Kuroo’s oddly constant presence, but he rakes his mind for something beyond that. 

“It's… a bit strange to always be inside,” Daichi answers, turning his head to face Iwaizumi. “I didn't realize how nice it was to be able to go outside once you're done class. It's like no matter where I go I’m always in school. “

“Ahhh yeah, I get that,” Iwaizumi replies with a solemn nod. “I felt trapped too during my first weeks here. You can't just go out for a stroll when you get sick of it.”

“And now?”

“Eh, I got used to it. I'm usually too busy to notice it now anyway.”

“You don’t say.” Daichi laughs. “I think I have had more homework assigned to me this week only than in one month at my previous school.”  

“See? Give it another week and I bet you won’t even have the time to think about getting out of here.”  

 

\---

 Kuroo discovers two things that day:

  1. Sawamura has amazing thighs
  2. He would kill to be in between them



Their crew uniforms run small and the way the fabric hugs the curve of Daichi's ass is absolutely sinful. Kuroo can’t tear his eyes away as he watches Daichi struggle to close his pants, yet eventually manages to squeeze in them. Kuroo could say something. He could, should, suggest to Daichi to just go grab a size up before their crew’s session time today, but that would be a great disservice to Kuroo himself and he’ll take the eye candy while he can.

Daichi shoots him a questioning side glance, and Kuroo hastily turns around to hide the red spreading to his cheeks. He goes back to getting dressed himself, hoping that he wasn't caught staring. Which he totally wasn't doing anyway, they were just both in their own room and Sawamura’s ass just happened to be in his field of vision. _Right_? Right.

Today's training session is in the simulator. After a quick rundown of the operation with the instructor, who explains that today will be a standard flying session just to get them back into the beat after spring break, everyone walks in to take place at their assigned station.

Kuroo’s eyes are drawn to Daichi again and he can't help but notice the way Sawamura holds himself as he walks in on the floor. He's never really noticed it before, but there's something about Sawamura that just commands respect and trust. Like you would do anything he told you to without questioning his judgment for even half a second. Kuroo has an inkling as to why, but it's not the place nor time to mention it.

“Kuroo-” comes Kenma’s voice from right next to him, pulling him from his Sawamura-centric thoughts. 

Kuroo looks down at Kenma, their crew’s navigator, who looks one shade of done above his usual. “Yes?“  
  
“We’re waiting for you to start,” Kenma states flatly.

“Ah. Right.” Kuroo glances up. Everyone is looking at him expectantly and he’s reminded that he has an actual job to do here. The tablet displaying he’s holding displays the flight’s specifics and he quickly reads the important point. “Today's a standard delivery mission from the supply point on Shondara to the KE research base on Koyukon. Expected flight time of 3 hours.”

\---

Panic filled the deck as everyone frantically looked at their screens, trying to find the solution to the problem they knew they were expected to solve.  

The first two hours of flight had gone exactly according to plan; Shondara’s dry and desertic terrain had allowed for an easy landing and retrieval of the cargo they are supposed to deliver. Now, Koyukon’s unpredictable mud storms have hit them and what was supposed to be a simple exercise turned into what would be an emergency situation if it were not in a simulator.

“I can’t see anything!” yells their pilot over the sound of the blaring alarm alerting them the ship exterior got hit and the structural integrity of the right flank is compromised. 

Daichi eyes darts between the large screen mimicking the ship’s forward window and his own screen in front of him at his station. He’s been through that exact scenario many times last year. Sitting in the pilot chair over there, panic rising along with frustration while you can’t see anything and the success of the mission lies on your shoulder. Now the screen in front of his seat only displays engine status, a harsh reminder that there’s nothing he can’t do in his current position.

Another impact. The alarms gets louder and louder in his ears and it’s all Daichi hears while his vision narrows down on the screen in front of the cockpit that's still covered in a thick layer of muddy dust.

_This is just a simulation, this is just a simulation, you’ve crashed in simulations before-_

The whole floor shakes under another impact. 

“Turn right!”

Kai doesn’t hesitate one second, and swiftly shift the stick in the direction Daichi commanded. “Now left and up right after.” Daichi continues, hoping his memory didn’t fail him. Just as predicted, the sharp turns shook off enough of the mud that they could finally see through the window and they were now high enough that the ship couldn't hit the enormous trees that had flanked them since their first landing tentative.

Daichi doesn’t even have the time to feel relief that he jolts at the loud bang of the simulator’s door being swung open and their instructor’s voice filling the space. 

“Sawamura!!” 

\---

 “I cannot believe the teacher yelled you. We'd have failed without you.” Kuroo comments, adjusting the strap of his bag on his shoulder.  

Daichi sighs. Getting reprimanded by the instructor in front of everyone was not really a good way to make a first impression on his new crew.  “He's right. It wasn't my place. In a real situation you can't just have anyone take control, that's a recipe for disaster. “

“In a real situation you would have saved everyone's life, Sawamura,” Kuroo points out, voice uncharacteristically serious. He opens the door and lets Daichi in their room first. “You know, I’ve crashed one before.” 

“Did you? I didn’t know you’ve piloted.” 

“Ah, not really. Played around with a flying scooter once and crashed it. Got a cool scar to prove it though.” Kuroo smiles at the memory and pulls up his left sleeve to show the half-crescent mark on his upper-arm.

“Then you've only injured yourself, Daichi deadpans, lifting an unimpressed eyebrow at Kuroo. While Kuroo’s attempt at telling a related story is a valiant one, Daichi simply can’t sympathize with it. It’s nothing like sitting there, watching helplessly as the ton of iron containing you and the people whose lives depend on you, who trust you to bring them home safe, gets dangerously close to the surface below. Too fast, wrong angle, engines blown out of commission, emergency thrusters not responding-

“Maybe, but I still think you shouldn’t be so hard on yourself,Sawamura.”

Daichi lets out a heavy sigh, Kuroo’s voice pulling him away from memories that are still too fresh and hurt too much. He drops his bag on the floor and opens one of his drawers so he can change back into normal clothes. “I wish I didn’t have to.”

\---

Later that weekend, Daichi finally finds the time to make some video calls home. He’s thankful that the station’s time isn’t too far from Japan’s local time and he doesn’t have to call in the middle of the night or some other inconvenient time.  
  
The first call with his parents is brief; they are more than happy to hear how their son is doing, but Daichi doesn’t feel like telling them everything he’s been doing in great details. Moreover, it’s mostly that he wants more time for the second call he’s looking forward to.

Right after ending the call with his parents, Daichi presses his best friend’s name on his phone and puts his phone back down so it can project the holo screen above it. There’s a slight delay due to the distance, but Suga picks up almost immediately. 

“Daichi!” Suga exclaims, face lighting up the moment’s Daichi’s face come into view from his side. “You’re still alive!”  
  
“Of course I am, I messaged you yesterday” Daichi answers, smile spreading to his own face in return.  
  
“Uh-uh, you could have been switched out for an alien that learned your typing patterns ” Suga says, face turning serious as he nods as if agreeing with his own theory. “In fact how do I know I’m really talking to Sawamura Daichi and not an alien duplicate?”  
  
Daichi laughs out loud at that one; he’s missed Suga’s humour a lot more than he realised. “Don’t worry it’s really me” he says, holding up one hand. “I swear it.”  
  
Suga’s eyes narrow suspiciously, but he can’t keep the act up very long and his smile makes its way back to his face. “Alright I believe you...for now.”  
  
“Thank you. I appreciate you believing that I’m really me.” Daichi says with a solemn nod.  
  
“For now” Suga reminds him.  
  
“Ah yes, for now.” Daichi corrects himself. “Speaking of being replaced….Did my parents offer to adopt you instead yet?  
  
Suga taps his chin with a pensive air. “Hmmm they did send me a pretty tempting offer, but I think I’ll stay with my own family for now. I’d miss the dogs mostly.”  
  
“That’s fair” Daichi agrees.  

“Anyway! How. Is. Your. New. Roommate ?” Suga puts the emphasis on every word because this is a Very Important Question.          

“Worried you’re being replaced as my best roommate?”

“Yes,”Suga answers without missing a beat and Daichi laughs at his honesty.

“Kuroo is…” Daichi trails off, racking his brain for the most accurate way of describing the strange phenomena that is Kuroo Tetsurou. He's known Kuroo for a little more than three weeks and each of their interactions seem to bring out an aspect of Kuroo Daichi hasn't seen before. One thing for sure, Kuroo was like a goddamn cat, always getting in all over your space when you least wanted him to.

“Oh oh? Who is that?” Kuroo’s voice comes from behind Daichi right as Kuroo heavily drapes himself over him from behind. 

“Kuroo!” Daichi yelps in surprise, jolting up straight and hitting Kuroo in the chin with the top of his head.  
  
“Ow ow! What the fuck-” Kuroo whines and rubs the now sore spot on his chin, as if he wasn’t the instigator of his own demise in the first place.

Daichi turns around and send him a piercing glare that makes Kuroo back off. On the other side of the screen, Suga is laughing so hard he’s wheezing and Daichi has to wait for him to catch his breath before they can resume.

“Sorry” Daichi apologies for the interruption. “ That’s what I have to deal with around here.”

“It's alright. Ah Kuroo? “ Suga hesitate around the new name. “Please take care of Daichi for me to will you?”

“Don't worry he's already well fed and I make sure he goes to bed on time” Kuroo says, sitting down at his chair and leaning closer towards Daichi so he can be included in the screen.

“I always go to bed before you” Daichi points out, side-glancing at Kuroo with an unimpressed look. 

“See? It works”

“Anyway, it’s getting late for me for here.” Suga says after looking down at the time displayed on his phone. “So I’ll leave you two be. Talk to you later!” 

Daichi says goodbye to Suga with a promise to call him again when he’ll have the time, and puts his phone away after ending the call, a little disappointed that he didn’t have more time to talk to Suga after Kuroo barged in.

“What did you want anyway?” Daichi asks Kuroo, pulling out his calculus textbook so he can start working on what’s due next week. With his classes condensed within three days, deadlines are closers to each other and the heavy workload means he needs all his organizational skills to stay on top of it.

Kuroo shrugs. “Nothing really. I went to play games with Bo, but Akaashi showed up and forced a study session on him so I left”

“Ah, so you didn't want to play third wheel”

“Nah, I’m just, you know, not too interested to witness the part where they keep glancing at each other over their textbooks like they’re eyefucking. ” 

Daichi does his best not to laugh out loud, but he can't stop the smile tugging at the corner of his lip as he pretends to start working in his textbook. “Oh? Is that envy that I’m hearing, Kuroo?” 

“Pfft, what? Me, envious? You don't know me well enough yet Sawamura.” Kuroo declares with the same false confidence Daichi is starting to be able to see through.

“If you say so.” Daichi shrugs, this time focusing on his work for real.

The room is silent for a moment, only filled with the sounds of pages turning, pencils scribbling down notes and Kuroo repeatedly running his hand through his hair.

“Sawamura,” Kuroo says eventually, breaking the silence.

_Ah there it is._

“Hm?” Daichi hums simply, inviting Kuroo to let on what's been on his mind. All the fidgeting from next to him was starting to get really distracting.

“I need your honest opinion”

“On what?”

“Do I look… undatable?” Kuroo says, his face drawn in a serious expression, as if this is a matter of life or death.

Daichi has to try his hardest not to laugh and keep a straight face. It's a strange question, but it's a very Kuroo question and Daichi doesn't hesitate to answer it. “Hmmm let me see…” He trails off, taping on his chin with the end of his pencil.  “You sleep with two pillows that gives you hair a bird could nest in, brought post-its in space and also have no concept of personal space. I don't even know where to begin with.”

“Wrong answer, these are all things that are super awesome about me. Anyway, What about you?” Kuroo asks, quickly changing the subject even though he was the one that brought it up in the first place.

“Not for a while and that is none of your business anyway.”

Kuroo leans closer with a teasing smirk across his face.“Oh, so that wasn't your boyfriend that you were just talking to?”

Daichi laughs out loud, shaking his head. “No, no. Suga and I have been really good friends since High School that’s all,” Daichi explains. It’s not the first time he's heard someone made this same assumption and frankly, he isn’t shocked by it anymore. “Why does that matter to you anyway? The, hm, you  being datable part.” Daichi quickly adds when Kuroo’s grin widen.

“I just… it's like everyone around me was made to be in fricking matching pairs. There’s Oikawa and Iwaizumi, and Bokuto and Akaashi and then there's me and… nobody. There's someone out there who is missing out on a perfect boyfriend and that's a crime really.”

“A shame really.” Daichi stands up and puts his texbtook in the pile of ones he needs for today, which he grabs and stuff in his backpack. As much as he didn’t mind the company, he’s got a lot of work to do and he won’t get anything done with Kuroo constantly distracting him.   

“I know, right?” Kuroo nods to himself while Daichi has already made his way to the door. “Wait- Where are you going?”

“To work in the library where I won't hear you mope” Daichi answers right before closing the door behind him.

“Hey!”

  
\---

 Kuroo wakes up in the middle of the night to Oikawa’s high pitched moans piercing through the thin wall. No matter how hard he presses his second pillow against his head, it does nothing to cut the lewd sounds from reaching his ears and he curses whoever placed these two in the same room the year after they finally admitted their feelings for each other. Not that it probably stopped them before, but at least they weren’t right next to his own room.

Jumping off from his bunk, Kuroo has half a mind to go bang on their door to tell them that just because it's 2am it doesn't mean they won't be heard. At least he needs to get away from here because if he’s not going to sleep, he might as well not stay and suffer.  

As he rummages around the floor to find some stray hoodie to put on, Kuroo notices there’s something else that’s off in the room.

Daichi’s bed is empty.

Not only is it empty, but it’s loosely done, in the same way that Kuroo has seen Daichi place back the blankets when he didn’t have the time to fully do his bed in the morning rush. Why Daichi always insist on properly doing his bed every morning is beyond him, but Kuroo is self-aware enough of his own little weird habits that he won't go around criticizing Daichi’s.

Daichi sleeps like a rock and as loud as Oikawa is, Kuroo doubts it would have been enough to wake him up. Now, they’re both adults and Daichi can do whatever he desires in the middle of the night, but Daichi keeps a tight sleep schedule; always in bed and up at almost the exact same time. For him to not be in bed at this hour must mean something is going on. 

  
After putting on some joggers so he’s not wandering down the halls in boxers, Kuroo sets out to take a walk around and maybe also find Daichi while he’s at it.

\---

“Enjoying the view?”  
  
Daichi doesn’t move one bit when he hears Kuroo’s voice coming from behind him, interrupting his thoughts. He keeps his cheek pressed against the glass pane, and tucks his legs closer so they don’t fall off the round window ledge where he’s sitting. The secluded corner he had found on an upper floor apparently wasn’t well hidden enough for him to be left alone like he wanted.  
  
“I don’t know.” Daichi says, voice soft and tired. Even through the dim lighting, the dark circles under his eyes are visible enough. “Do you miss it sometimes?”

Kuroo steps closer and leans casually with one shoulder on the wall near Daichi. “Miss what?” he asks, turning his head to look outside too. Beyond the thick glass pane was the same ever-present view; thousands of stars, distant celestial beings and the dim light of the sun coming through millions of kilometres away.  
  
“Earth.”  
  
“Earth was never mine to miss.”  
  
Daichi tears his gaze away from the window and gives Kuroo a quizzical look.  
  
“I’m not from it,” Kuroo answers the silent question with a shrug.

“Ah, I should have known with the weird hair that you’re actually an alien,” Daichi says, snickering right after at the unimpressed look Kuroo gives him instantly. It makes sense, really. With humanity spreading further across the cosmo, not every human being is born on Earth anymore, but that’s easy to forget sometimes.

“Very funny, Sawamura,” Kuroo deadpans.“ My parents both work in interspatial development, so I’ve spent my whole life moving wherever their work was.” 

What a life that must be.Traveling from places to places, discovering new worlds and yet never having somewhere to truly call home. For someone who had only ever moved out to go to university, Daichi can’t imagine what that must have been like growing up like that.

“So you've never been?”

“A few times to visit relatives, but not enough to call it my own. I found it a bit boring compared to some places I’ve been, a lot safer though.”

Daichi simply nods and looks out the window once more. Kuroo must have went out of his way to find him, but Daichi isn’t all that interested in conversing right now.

“That’s your first time being outside of Earth for an extended period of time, am I right?” Kuroo asks, breaking the silence that was starting to settle in the space between them. 

“I’ve always wanted to spend my life out there in space, but now that I’m here I just want to be somewhere else,” Daichi answers with a bitter chuckle. Perhaps that’s not all there is to it. Daichi’s love of space came from a desire to explore the vast unknown beyond him, the one he spent his whole childhood looking at in between the stars littering the night sky. Now that same space has turned into a huge metal box he can’t escape from until Spring break comes around again. 

“Let's go out then” Kuroo suggests casually as if that was the most obvious thing to do.    
  
Daichi gives Kuroo an incredulous look. “What?”  
  
“Technically... we’re restricted to a list of destinations pre-approved by the school and we can’t be gone for too long, but we can use the semi-autos to go out for the day.”  
  
“Don’t we still need a pilot for those?”

“I usually just bribe Bokuto, he’s easy enough to convince.” Kuroo shrugs. “So, next weekend. What do you say?”

“I say I would very much like that if you do.”

\---

 After spending time discussing possible destinations with Kuroo, the prospect of being able to spend time outside has considerable lifted Daichi’s mood, but the lack of sleep quickly caught up with him and he agreed to return to their room with Kuroo.

“Why are you here anyway?” Daichi asks as they approach the dorm floor. 

“You don’t want to know” Kuroo answers, a visible shudder running through him, and Daichi eyes him suspiciously.  
  
“Okay okay, Oikawa and Iwaizumi were being super gross when I woke up. Super duper gross. I think I’ll hear Oikawa’s shrilly moans in my nightmares for the rest of the week.”  
  
Daichi wrinkles his nose in disgust. “Okay you were right, I didn’t want to know.”  
  
“Sawamura, I swear the amount of faith that you have in me is so astounding it makes me emotional,” Kuroo says, placing his hand on his chest and looking away dramatically.

“Kuroo.”  
  
“Hm?”

“You’re an ass, you know that?”  
  
“I sure do,” Kuroo says with a wink and cocksure smile that makes Daichi roll his eyes at him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your kudos and subscriptions! I hope that you will keep enjoying the rest of this story, there’s a lot more to come! Don’t worry though, Daichi won’t be this angsty the whole time, I promise he’ll get better very soon. 
> 
> Next chapter should be posted at the end of February!
> 
> Also,feel free to come yell at me about KuroDai or Haikyuu in general  
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/DarksStars)  
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